


Physical Connection

by MiniNephthys



Category: Uncommon Time (Video Game)
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 19:24:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4932262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Altair and how to dance with a partner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Physical Connection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [feralphoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/feralphoenix/gifts).



Altair is from a noble family, and as such, certain skills are expected of him. How to correctly drink tea, how to speak eloquently and politely, how to tolerate people that he dislikes for the sake of appearances. He has picked up on all of these skills, some with difficulty and much practice, some naturally.

None has come more naturally to him than how to dance with a partner.

Altair counts time as easily as he breathes. His steps are sure, and he hasn’t accidentally tripped over someone’s foot since he was seven and dancing with another noble family’s young daughter who knew even less than he did about how to waltz. He’s tall, but not so tall that it makes dancing with people of average height awkward.

He could probably dance at any ball with any partner and perform at least decently, if not stand out from the crowd.

But there’s only one person he wants to dance with.

Arietta is invited to most of the same balls he’s invited to. They’re both of noble birth, even if Arietta is of a much newer family. Though Arietta isn’t particularly in favor with anyone, it would be rude to snub her and fail to invite her entirely (though her invitation has ‘gotten lost in the mail’ more than once).

She spends much of her time enjoying the food, and very little of it socializing. Arietta has never been particularly fond of other nobles.

Altair finds her when a new song is about to begin.

“Would you do me the honor of one dance?” he asks.

Arietta smiles and extends her hand to him. “For you, I don’t mind.”

Arietta was also taught how to dance with a partner, and counting time comes even more naturally to her than to him. She leads or follows depending on her mood, and Altair can accommodate either. By now he knows her signals and she knows his: they are easily the best coordinated pair on the floor.

Arietta won’t dance with anyone she doesn’t know well. She has no reason to for the sake of appearances. It’s no fun, and when she rejects someone she does it bluntly and without tact. Even when she doesn’t feel up for dancing with Altair, she’s straightforward about it, and he accepts that and doesn’t push.

He asks for one dance, but if she feels like another, they can have a second. Or a third. Altair knows that unmarried couples only dancing with each other for the entire ball is not quite seemly, but he could not care less, and he knows Arietta feels the same way.

Besides, there’s surely no one who doesn’t know the nature of his relationship with Arietta by now. Even if they will never have all the rights of a husband and wife, surely the privilege of dancing only with each other is something they deserve.

If anyone ever says a word that might be taken as disapproving, Altair is sure that Arietta will make them regret it.


End file.
